With Deaths of Forests, a Loss of Key Climate Protectors

[knocker]

 

WISE RIVER, Mont. — The trees spanning many of the mountainsides of western Montana glow an earthy red, like a broadleaf forest at the beginning of autumn.

 

But these trees are not supposed to turn red. They are evergreens, falling victim to beetles that used to be controlled in part by bitterly cold winters. As the climate warms, scientists say, that control is no longer happening.

 

Across millions of acres, the pines of the northern and central Rockies are dying, just one among many types of forests that are showing signs of distress these days.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/01/science/earth/01forest.html?_r=4&hp&

[mike Meehan]

Was the severe cold this winter far enough west to kill off the little blighters?

[4wd]

As usual the attempt to pin this on climate change is mischievous.I would suspect transporting logs about is a better explanation of how pests and diseases have spread to new areas with fewer predators or trees with no resistance (yet)..Very similar things are threatening various species here.The rest of the piece predicting doomed forests worldwide by quoting a drought here and a hot spell there is frankly ludicrous and patronising.Vegetation is likely to thrive in a warmer world which as we 'are being told' will also be wetter, CO2 also helps trees grow.Another false assumption in the tale of woe article is that old growth forests do not magically continuously absorb ever more CO2 - because all the wood and leaf litter falls to the floor and decomposes - releasing a similar amount of CO as was taken in to grow.It's concerning that the trees are being affected and it would be desirable if some natural control could be introduced.If not it will run its course and other species will grow, or the pests will kill so many trees their own population plummets.In short, the piece is another typically absurd piece from the global warming industry. 

[knocker]

You really ought to explain to those not in the know what the global warming industry is. It will save them Googling companies house.

 

Anyway

 

Beetle Devastates Yellowstone Whitebark Pine Forests

 

The warming climate has made conditions suitable for a massive outbreak of mountain pine beetles, which are now infesting the whitebark pine forests in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE). The infestation has other ecological consequences such as:

• devastation of forests in the region
• loss of a critical food supply for grizzlies and other wildlife
• negative impacts on water and watersheds
• deterioration of biodiversity
• decline in the aesthetic value of an iconic ecosystem

http://www.actionbioscience.org/environment/loganmacfarlane.html

 

Climate change creates complicated consequences for North America's forests

 

Climate change affects forests across North America -- in some cases permitting insect outbreaks, plant diseases, wildfires and other problems -- but researchers say warmer temperatures are also making many forests grow faster and some less susceptible to pests, which could boost forest health and acreage, timber harvests, carbon storage, water recycling and other forest benefits in some areas.

 

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131015103953.htm

Edited March 5, 2014 by knocker